Academic Interests
Higher education and employment history
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PhD at the Department of Psychology, UiO, 2019
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Clinical psychologist at Follo DPS, 2008-2012
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Two-year introduction program for intensive psychotherapy, Institutt for psykoterapi, Oslo, 2010-2012
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Profession-oriented degree program in psychology (Cand. Psychol), University of Oslo, 2008
Tags:
Clinical psychology,
Developmental psychology
Publications
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Svendsrud, Hedvig; Fredriksen, Eivor; Lund, Olaf; Moe, Vibeke; Smith, Lars & Helmikstøl, Beate
[Show all 8 contributors for this article]
(2026).
Fathers’ prenatal risk and infant mental health: The role of caregiving warmth.
Developmental Psychology.
ISSN 0012-1649.
62(11),
p. 2322–2334.
doi:
10.1037/dev0002191.
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Fathers can influence their children's behavioral and emotional development positively or negatively. Limited research has explored the impact of fathers' prenatal risk factors and paternal postnatal warmth on infant socioemotional development. This novel study, characterized by its use of two warmth measures, a large Nordic cohort of fathers and a longitudinal prenatal-to-postnatal design, investigates (a) the longitudinal direct effects of prenatal paternal cumulative risk on infant externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 18 months and (b) whether paternal caregiving warmth at 12 months, assessed by paternal self-reports as well as observed by dyadic interactions, moderates these associations. Data were drawn from the Little in Norway study, a large cohort of fathers (N = 864, 97.6% cohabiting, Mage = 32.18 years, 67.2% reported >3 years higher education, 4.7% belonged to an ethnic minority group) and their infants. Path analyses showed that higher paternal prenatal cumulative risk predicted increased infant externalizing (β = 0.14, p = .002) and internalizing (β = 0.09, p = .039) symptoms. Paternal self-reported warmth predicted lower externalizing symptoms, but no association was found for internalizing symptoms. Neither self-reported nor observed paternal warmth was found to moderate the relation between paternal prenatal risk and infant externalizing or internalizing symptoms, suggesting that paternal warmth may not serve as a single protective factor in buffering the potential detrimental effects of paternal cumulative risk on infant mental health outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of including fathers in developmental research, early interventions, and social policies, beginning in the prenatal period. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
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Svendsrud, Hedvig; Bekkhus, Mona; Lund, Olaf; Shai, Dana; Spencer, Rose & Smith, Lars
[Show all 10 contributors for this article]
(2026).
Does expectant fathers' attachment style or depressive mood relate to their embodied mentalizing capacity of their 12-month-old infant?
Acta Psychologica.
ISSN 0001-6918.
263,
p. 1–12.
doi:
10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106224.
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Parental embodied mentalizing is about how parents show with their body that they hold in mind their infants' mind. The main study's aim was to explore what influences fathers' embodied mentalizing. A random sample of 200 fathers and their 12-month-old infants were drawn from a large longitudinal, population-based dataset, the "Little in Norway (LiN)" study. Fathers' partner related attachment style was assessed at enrollment, symptoms of depression were measured four times during pregnancy and at 12 months postpartum, as was also parenting stress. Videotaped father-infant interactions were coded with the Parental Embodied Mentalizing Assessment (PEMA). Results showed that fathers of girls were demonstrating a higher capacity for embodied mentalizing compared to fathers of boys. There were no direct effects of prenatal depressive symptoms or attachment style on fathers embodied mentalizing, suggesting that lower levels of attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms do not necessarily compromise fathers' capacity for embodied mentalizing. However, depressive symptoms during pregnancy increased the likelihood of postpartum depressive symptoms and parenting stress. In combination, these increased risks were related to poorer embodied mentalizing in fathers. This suggests that being depressed both during pregnancy and when the infant is 12 months, as well as experiencing stress in the parenting role, may be risk factors for compromised embodied mentalizing.
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Fredriksen, Eivor; Soest, Tilmann Martin von; Bekkhus, Mona; Svendsrud, Hedvig; Smith, Lars & Siqveland, Torill Kandal Sundet
[Show all 7 contributors for this article]
(2025).
Parental Gender and Adult Attachment Style in the Transition to Parenthood: Implications for Parent–Infant Interaction, Parenting Stress, and Parental Leave Practices.
Journal of Marriage and Family.
ISSN 0022-2445.
88(1),
p. 145–159.
doi:
10.1111/jomf.70002.
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Objective
Aiming to broaden our understanding of parental gender differences within the framework of attachment theory, this study explores how parents' prenatal attachment styles relate to parenting stress, parent–infant interaction, and paternity leave, by investigating how attachment styles and gender interact to predict parenting outcomes.
Background
The attachment system is at the core of parental adjustments during the perinatal period, underscored by the interplay between attachment styles and caregiving behavior. Yet, gender differences in these associations remain poorly understood, despite variations in parenting roles.
Methods
Families (N = 1036) participating in a prospective community-based study in Norway reported adult attachment orientations during pregnancy. Postnatal data included self-reported parenting stress, observed mother–infant/father–infant interactions, and paternal parental leave uptake. A path analysis was carried out, using multigroup comparisons to investigate parental gender differences.
Results
Prenatal adult attachment avoidance and anxiety predicted higher parenting stress (range: β = 0.12–0.38), and attachment avoidance predicted higher father–infant interactional difficulties postnatally (β = 0.35). Fathers' attachment insecurities were related to lower uptake of paternity leave through indirect pathways with a small effect size. Associations between attachment avoidance and all parenting outcomes were consistently stronger for fathers than mothers.
Conclusion
Adult attachment styles among expectant parents are associated with a diverse range of parenting outcomes, with findings revealing gendered patterns in the links between adult attachment and caregiving systems during the perinatal period.
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Helmikstøl, Beate; Moe, Vibeke; Smith, Lars & Fredriksen, Eivor
(2025).
Mapping Dysregulation: Prenatal Predictors and Developmental Trajectories of Multiple Regulatory Problems in Early Childhood.
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.
ISSN 2730-7166.
doi:
10.1007/s10802-025-01320-2.
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Hygen, Beate Wold; Skalicka, Vera; Coplan, Robert; Soest, Tilmann von; Fredriksen, Eivor & Bekkhus, Mona
(2024).
Norwegian Adolescents in the Initial Stages of COVID-19 Restrictions. Links Between Interactions, Digital Media Use, Loneliness, and Mental Health Problems.
Journal of Media Psychology.
ISSN 1864-1105.
36(5).
doi:
10.1027/1864-1105/a000401.
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in March 2020, the Norwegian government closed schools and limited leisure activities. In this cross-sectional study, we examined how different types of digital versus in-person social interactions and digital media use were associated with loneliness and mental health problems among adolescents during the initial COVID-19 lockdown. Participants (N = 703, 79.7% girls, Mage = 17.3 years) completed a questionnaire assessing loneliness, mental health problems, digital media use, and in-person interactions. Both in-person and digital social interaction (texting) with friends were negatively associated with adolescents’ mental health problems and loneliness. By contrast, time spent alone on screen and on social media was positively related to mental health problems. The findings highlight that during the first weeks of the pandemic and of social distancing, increased interactions (either in-person or digital) among adolescents and their friends coincided with lower lev
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Skjerdingstad, Nora Paulsen; Speyer, Lydia G.; Isvoranu, Adela-Maria; Moe, Vibeke & Fredriksen, Eivor
(2024).
Dynamics of postnatal depressive symptoms in early parenthood.
BMC Psychiatry.
24(1).
doi:
10.1186/s12888-024-05934-6.
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Background New mothers and fathers are at risk of developing postnatal depressive problems. To understand how postnatal depressive symptoms unfold over time, analyses at the within-person level are necessary. Inspecting postnatal depressive problems at the symptom level provides a novel perspective, ultimately offering insight into which symptoms contribute to the elevation of other symptoms over time. Methods Panel graphical vector-autoregression (GVAR) models were applied to analyze the within-person temporal and contemporaneous relations between depressive symptoms across the postnatal period in new mothers and fathers (at T1; Nmothers = 869, Nfathers = 579). Depressive symptoms were assessed at 6-, 12-, and 18-months postpartum, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Results The results revealed that for mothers, sadness was a key symptom predicting symptom increases in multiple other depressive symptoms and itself (autoregressive effect) over time. Furthermore, anxiousness and feeling scared predicted each other across the postnatal period in mothers. For fathers, the most central predicting symptom in the overall network of symptoms was being anxious, while self-blame and being overwhelmed had strong self-maintaining roles in the fathers’ symptomatology, indicating that these could be key features in fathers experiencing postnatal depressive problems. The pattern of symptoms that mothers and fathers experienced within the same time window (contemporaneous associations), shared many of the same characteristics compared to the temporal structure. Conclusions This study suggests that across the postnatal period, from 6- to 18-months postpartum, depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers contribute differently to the pattern of depressive problems, highlighting sadness as a key feature in maternal symptomatology and anxiousness components in paternal symptomatology.
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Bjørk, Rune Flaaten; Havighurst, Sophie Seychelle; Fredriksen, Eivor & Bølstad, Evalill
(2024).
Up you get: Norwegian parents' reactions to children's negative emotions.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.
ISSN 0036-5564.
doi:
10.1111/sjop.13051.
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Helmikstøl, Beate; Moe, Vibeke; Smith, Lars & Fredriksen, Eivor
(2023).
Multiple Risk in Pregnancy- Prenatal Risk Constellations and Mother-Infant Interactions, Parenting Stress, and Child Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors: A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study from Pregnancy to 18 Months Postpartum.
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.
ISSN 2730-7166.
doi:
10.1007/s10802-023-01145-x.
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Svendsrud, Hedvig; Fredriksen, Eivor; Moe, Vibeke; Smith, Lars; Tsotsi, Stella & Ullebø, Anne Karin
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2023).
Becoming Dad: Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Style and Prenatal Representations of the Unborn Child.
Children.
10(7).
doi:
10.3390/children10071187.
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How expectant fathers think and feel about the unborn child (prenatal representations), has shown associations with fathers’ postnatal parenting behaviors, observed father–infant interactional quality and child cognitive development. There is limited knowledge about fathers’ prenatal representations. The present study examined if fathers’ partner-related attachment styles were related to their prenatal representations of the unborn child. In the “Little in Norway Study”, an ongoing prospective, longitudinal population-based study, 396 expectant fathers completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale at enrollment (mean gestational week = 23.76, SD = 4.93), and in gestational weeks 27–35 completed three questions assessing prenatal representations. Correlations of attachment style and prenatal representations were reported using logistic regression analyses. We found that an avoidant attachment style by fathers were predicted to have absent or negative representations on all three items (1) “strongest feeling about the unborn child” (Cl = 1.19–2.73), (2) “thoughts about child personality” (Cl = 1.16–1.87), and (3) “experiences of relationship with the child” (Cl = 1.14–1.75). Father anxious attachment style was not significantly associated with absent or negative prenatal representations. Results suggest that expectant fathers with a partner related avoidant attachment style have an increased risk of having absent or negative prenatal representations of the unborn child.
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Siqveland, Torill Sundet; Fredriksen, Eivor; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Smith, Lars & Moe, Vibeke
(2022).
Dyadic parent–infant interaction patterns at 12 months: Exploring dyadic parent–infant gender compositions.
Infant Mental Health Journal.
ISSN 0163-9641.
43(3),
p. 424–439.
doi:
10.1002/imhj.21982.
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Bekkhus, Mona; Soest, Tilmann von & Fredriksen, Eivor
(2020).
Psykisk helse hos ungdommer under covid-19. Om ensomhet, venner og sosiale medier.
Tidsskrift for Norsk psykologforening (Psykologtidsskriftet).
ISSN 0332-6470.
57(7),
p. 492–501.
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Moe, Vibeke; Fredriksen, Eivor; Kjellevold, Marian; Dahl, Lisbeth Jane; Wik, Maria & Stormark, Kjell Morten
[Show all 10 contributors for this article]
(2019).
Little in Norway: a prospective longitudinal community-based cohort from pregnancy to child age 18 months.
BMJ Open.
9:e031050(12),
p. 1–11.
doi:
10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031050.
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The Little in Norway (LiN) project is a cross-disciplinary prospective longitudinal study starting in pregnancy. It was set up to investigate maternal and paternal mental health functioning in the transition to parenthood, detect pathways to healthy and aberrant child development and generate new knowledge about mechanisms underlying differential child mental health susceptibility.
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Fredriksen, Eivor; Soest, Tilmann Von; Smith, Lars & Moe, Vibeke
(2019).
Depressive symptom contagion in the transition to parenthood: Interparental processes and the role of partner-related attachment.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
ISSN 0021-843X.
128(5),
p. 397–403.
doi:
10.1037/abn0000429.
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How depressive symptoms unfold within a couple during the perinatal events of pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood is poorly understood. In this prospective study, we aim to investigate the reciprocal relation between maternal and paternal depressive symptomatology, specifically how symptoms in 1 partner relate to subsequent symptom level changes in the other partner throughout the perinatal period. Further, we aim to identify parents who are particularly vulnerable to the development of disruptive processes of negative mood states. Data were collected from 1,036 mothers and 878 fathers participating in the Little in Norway study from midpregnancy until 12 months postpartum. Depressive symptoms were assessed at 7 time points (4 prenatally) in both parents. Partner-related attachment was measured early in pregnancy. By using an autoregressive latent trajectory modeling approach, accounting for time invariant confounding, we found mothers’ depressive symptoms late in pregnancy to predict elevated symptom levels in fathers 6 weeks after birth, with a small effect size. No other time-adjacent effects were observed among partners at other time points or with the opposite directionality. However, moderation analyses revealed that among parents characterized by insecure partner-attachment styles, additional cross-lagged pathways were evident during pregnancy and throughout the first year of parenthood. Clinicians need to be aware of fathers’ vulnerability to symptom development in instances of maternal perinatal depressive states at the time around childbirth, and tailor preventive and treatment efforts to address both parents’ needs. Further, particular attention should be directed to parents with heightened susceptibility to prolonged depression contagion processes.
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Fredriksen, Eivor; Soest, Tilmann von; Smith, Lars & Moe, Vibeke
(2018).
Parenting Stress Plays a Mediating Role in the Prediction of Early Child Development from Both Parents` Perinatal Depressive Symptoms.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
ISSN 0091-0627.
p. 1–16.
doi:
10.1007/s10802-018-0428-4.
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Moe, Vibeke; Soest, Tilmann von; Fredriksen, Eivor; Olafsen, Kåre Sten & Smith, Lars
(2018).
The multiple determinants of maternal parenting stress 12 months after birth: The contribution of antenatal attachment style, adverse childhood experiences, and infant temperament.
Frontiers in Psychology.
9,
p. 1–14.
doi:
10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01987.
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Parenting stress can influence caregiving behavior negatively, which in turn may harm children’s development. Identifying precursors of parenting stress, preferably beginning during pregnancy and throughout the first year of life, is therefore important. The present study aims to provide novel knowledge on this issue through a detailed examination of the association between maternal attachment style and later parenting stress. Moreover, we examine the role of several additional risk factors, specificially the mothers’ own adverse childhood experiences (ACE), as well as infants’ temperamental characteristics. Data from a community based longitudinal study of 1,036 Norwegian mothers, collected during pregnancy and 12 months after childbirth, were used. Results showed that attachment style in pregnancy predicted parenting stress 1 year after birth. In addition, it was demonstrated that the mothers’ own ACEs predicted postnatal parenting stress, and that attachment style operated as a mediator of this association. A significant association between perceived infant temperament and parenting stress was also found. The study illustrates the importance of understanding the multifactorial antecedents of parenting stress. The results may inform early intervention efforts aimed at supporting mothers and their partners in the potentially difficult transition period around childbirth.
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Fredriksen, Eivor; Soest, Tilmann von; Smith, Lars & Moe, Vibeke
(2017).
Patterns of pregnancy and postpartum depressive symptoms: Latent class trajectories and predictors.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
ISSN 0021-843X.
126(2),
p. 173–183.
doi:
10.1037/abn0000246.
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Depressive symptoms among pregnant and postpartum women are common. However, recent studies indicate that depressive symptoms in the perinatal period do not follow a uniform course, and investigations of the heterogeneity of time courses and associated factors are needed. The aim of this study was to explore whether depressive symptoms in the perinatal period could be categorized into several distinct trajectories of symptom development among subgroups of perinatal women, and to identify predictors of these trajectory groups. The study used data from 1,036 Norwegian women participating in a community-based prospective study from midpregnancy until 12-months postpartum. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 7 time points (4 during pregnancy). Partner-related attachment, stress, childhood adversities, pregnancy-related anxiety, previous psychopathology, and socioeconomic conditions were assessed at enrollment. By means of growth mixture modeling based on piecewise growth curves, 4 classes of depressive symptom trajectories were identified, including (a) pregnancy only (4.4%); (b) postpartum only (2.2%); (c) moderate-persistent (10.5%); and (d) minimum symptoms (82.9%) classes. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that membership in the pregnancy only and postpartum only classes primarily was associated with pregnancy-related anxiety and previous psychopathology, respectively, whereas the moderate-persistent class was associated with diverse psychosocial adversity factors. Findings suggest heterogeneity in temporal patterns of elevated depressive mood, relating specific trajectories of time courses with distinct adversity factors. Researchers and clinicians should be aware of possible multiple courses of elevated perinatal depressive mood, and inquire about possible diverse adversity factors, aberrant pathways, and prognoses. © 2017 American Psychological Association. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission.
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Fredriksen, Eivor
(2019).
Depressive symptoms in the transition to parenthood: Patterns, processes and child outcomes.
Universitetet i Oslo.
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Postpartum depression has been recognized as a serious condition by clinicians and researchers for decades, yet our understanding of the complexities of depressive symptomatology during the perinatal period is still in its infancy. It is unlikely that any one factor or perspective can explain the multifaceted presentation and course of depressive symptoms in this period, and a more comprehensive understanding of meaningful distinctions within etiologies, symptom developments and prognosis is needed. Studies have traditionally focused on postpartum women. More recently, the pregnancy phase and fathers’ mental health has been included in research efforts, adding new perspectives. Furthermore, we know that depressive states in the transition to parenthood is not only detrimental to the mental health of parents, it can also have profound effects on the caretaking environment for the newborn child. Early parental depression adds to the child’s risk of developing a wide range of social, emotional and cognitive problems, however, there is a need for elucidating mechanisms for the transmission of risk, as well as factors that adds or buffers vulnerability for an adverse development. On this backdrop, the main goal of this thesis was to provide a more detailed understanding of how depressive symptoms unfold during the entire perinatal period for mothers and fathers, and how this relates to child outcomes. This included investigating the heterogeneity of perinatal depressive symptom courses among women; the dynamic transmission of depressive symptoms within parental couples throughout the perinatal events of pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood; and how child outcomes are related to parental depressive symptoms while in the womb and the first 18 months of their lives. The data for this thesis are from the prospective, multisite study Little in Norway (LiN) and comprise nine data collection waves; four prenatal, birth records, and at six weeks, six months, 12 months and 18 months after the children were born. The 1,036 participating families were recruited at nine different well-baby clinics located at geographically diverse sites across Norway. Collected data includes surveys from both parents, birth records and psychological tests of the children. The papers presented in this thesis takes a detailed approach to depressive symptom development and expression in the transition to parenthood. By investigating heterogeneity of symptom courses, transmission of negative mood states within parental couples, and differential and mediating effects on child outcomes, findings provide important distinctions in our understanding of how depressive symptoms unfold during the specific events of pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood. Findings have several clinical implications; the importance of including prevention, assessment and treatment efforts of depressive symptoms as early as the pregnancy phase; bringing the mental health of fathers into perinatal care; and direct resources to identify and accommodate the needs of those with a heightened risk for depressive symptomatology.
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Published
Nov. 16, 2012 3:20 PM
- Last modified
Dec. 21, 2021 2:25 PM
